1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image output apparatus, an image test system, and a density correction method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is a known density correction technology for correcting the density of image data to be printed on a printed matter (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-158504), and a known image testing technology for testing an image that has been printed on a printed matter (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-310567). In recent years, print-on-demand printers increasingly have an image correcting technology as well as the image testing technology.
However, in a system having the image correcting technology and the image testing technology, if the accuracy of density correction is extremely low with respect to a pass-fail criterion for an image test, a large number of defective printed matters are generated. On the other hand, if the accuracy of density correction is extremely high with respect to the pass-fail criterion for the image test, processing time needed for the density correction increases. Therefore, in both cases, the productivity of printed matters decreases.